


I Know What It's Like

by awhitehead17



Series: TimKon Week 2019 [3]
Category: Red Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics)
Genre: Fluff, Hugs, Hurt and Emotional Kon, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Tim being a good boyfriend, TimKon Week 2019, bit of angst, day three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 06:30:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20059567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awhitehead17/pseuds/awhitehead17
Summary: When Kon wakes up from a nightmare relieving some bad memories, Tim's there to offer some comfort and his support.





	I Know What It's Like

**Author's Note:**

> This is done for day three of TimKon week 2019. The prompts were Hurt/Comfort or College AU. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! :D

For once it was a slow going night. Part of that was probably because he hadn’t gone out on patrol, choosing to stay inside and do work on his laptop instead. He didn’t mind being inside, it was a change of pace but the main reason was because of the sleeping body on the bed behind him.

Tim glances over his shoulder at Kon who was sprawled out over the double bed completely out of it. A fond smile makes its way onto his face, well, they had been at it for a good couple of hours. It’s funny that Kon’s the one worn out and not Tim.

After they had finished they laid together simply spooning and talking until Kon had fallen asleep, (that wasn’t Tim’s plan, it just happened that way). Surprisingly not feeling very tired Tim got up from the bed and went over to his desk where his laptop was.

Turning back to his computer Tim flicks through all of his emails, answering the ones he needs too and deleting the ones that were junk. Once he’s finished these up he’ll go back to bed and cuddle Kon, maybe try and fall asleep while he’s at it.

He ends up losing track of time as he answers the emails, what breaks him out of his head was a quiet whimpering sound coming from behind him. Tim immediately stops typing and spins around to look behind him to where he finds Kon shifting about on the bed. The cover was getting tangled up around his legs with the movement as he tosses and turns on the mattress.

Tim sits at the desk wondering what to do. It was clear that Kon was having a nightmare, but the severity of it was unknown. He may settle down once again in a minute or two or he could wake up screaming. Both were a possibility and both of which Tim has dealt with before when it came to Kon. Sure he’s been on that end plenty of times, but there was a handful of times when Kon’s been on that end too.

Nightmares were practically inevitable when you’re a hero.

Kon doesn’t settle down after a couple of minutes. His tossing and turning gets worse and his whimpering only increases. Tim doesn’t hesitate after that. He shuts his laptop’s lid and gets up from the chair and goes over to the bed. He goes to Kon’s side and climbs onto the bed, however he’s only able to get his knees on the mattress before he’s hitting some invisible force.

He frowns as he works out that it’s Kon’s TTK stopping him from getting any closer. That’s Kon’s instinctive defensive mechanism. His TTK acts as some form of protective barrier around him that stops him from getting hurt or allowing anyone to get too close to him.

Knowing that there wasn’t a way to bring down the barrier without hurting him, Tim goes to his plan B.

“Conner, wake up.” He calls out. “Kon, babe, it’s just a dream. I need you to wake up now. Conner.”

His calls were useless because Kon was only getting more restless by the minute. He’s now started to whimper out things like, “No please, I’m sorry.” “Please don’t go.” “Tana…” “Tim, Cass… don’t leave.” “I’m sorry…”

Tim’s heart breaks as he hears each plea come from Kon’s lips. Each desperate cry as he begs the different people in his life to stay by his side and not leave him. Tim tries to get his attention but to no avail, calling him wasn’t working and he couldn’t get through the meta’s TTK barrier.

It hurts him to see Kon so distraught and not be able to help him, it shatters his heart when he catches a glimpse of Kon’s face as he turns and sees the tears streaks running down his cheeks.

“No. No no no no no… TANA, TIM!”

With a shout Kon bolts upright into a sitting position. The movement happened so fast that it startled Tim and made him almost fall off the bed. Thankfully he’s able to catch himself and all of his focus remains completely on Kon who was close to hyperventilating.

“Conner, your safe! I’m here okay. Kon please, I’m here, your safe!”

Tim still couldn’t move closer because of the barrier. It was frustrating because he couldn’t get close to his boyfriend who clearly needed him right now. Kon was sat straight up, his hand clenching the bed sheets super tight, his chest was heaving up and down and his eyes were wildly looking around the room.

Moments tick by and Kon seems to get control of himself just a little bit, at least his breathing eases down enough so his chest doesn’t seem like it’s going to explode. He looks around the room once again and his eyes fall upon Tim, this time actually seeing him. “Tim?”

Tim tries his best to smile. In a soft and reassuring voice he says, “I’m here Kon. I’m right here.”

The next thing he knows is that he’s knocked breathless from Conner crushing him in a hug. Tim lets out an “oof” before getting the air back into his body. Kon was now clinging onto him really tight, tight enough that it actually was beginning to hurt. Tim was already starting to feel the bruises from where the meta’s arms were wrapped around his waist and where his hands rested on his sides. He doesn’t dare move him though, Kon clearly needed the support so Tim wasn’t going to move him.

He simply wraps his own arms around his boyfriend and allows Kon to cling onto him. Kon’s head finds its way to his shoulder and the meta buries his face into Tim’s skin where his neck and shoulder meet. Tim allows him to do it, he could feel Kon shaking as they hug and he knows whatever Kon had dreamed about that it was bad. He wraps his arms tightly around Kon, pulls him even closer and runs a hand through the meta’s hair in an attempt to calm him down.

They sit together like that for a while. Kon clinging onto Tim and Tim hugging him back just as tightly while he calms down and gets himself together. Eventually Kon calms down enough to stop shaking, then his grip loosens around Tim slightly (which Tim is silently grateful for) before pulling away from him. Tim doesn’t let him go though, he makes sure to keep an arm wrapped around his neck and one hand running through his hair in a gentle caress.

Tim ducks his head to try and meet Kon’s eyes but his boyfriend wasn’t looking at him. Tim frowns feeling concerned. “Kon?”

Kon swallows before taking a deep shaky breath. “I’m fine.” He says, his voice is hoarse and quiet.

Tim wants to be annoyed at him for that, clearly he wasn’t fine. He was still shaking from his nightmare, the occasional tear still running down his cheek, his face was flushed red and his breathing was still shaky. He was anything but fine. Tim doesn’t comment on it though because if their roles were reversed, that’s the exact response Tim would give too. He’d be a hypocrite if he said anything against it.

He removes his arm from around Kon’s neck in order to run his hand up and down Kon’s arm, “Hey, you wanna talk about it?”

Kon shakes his head before he swallows again. Then without words he leans forward and buries his face back in Tim’s neck. Tim sighs and wraps his arms back around Kon. He gives his boyfriend a moment before speaking again.

“Kon whatever it is you can talk to me. I’ll listen alright. I want you to talk to me.”

He gets a response but it was unintelligible because Kon had spoken into his shoulder. He lets out another sigh and gently coaxes Kon away from his shoulder, he cradles the meta’s face in his hands and studies Kon’s tear stained face. His usual blue eyes were bloodshot and seemed dull, his lips were turned downwards and his eyebrows were furrowed.

“What happened in your nightmare? It’s good to talk about it.”

Kon suddenly gets a look of anger on his face and he shoves Tim’s hands off his face with a scowl. “You’re one to talk. You never speak about your nightmares so why should I? Anyway, I’m fine. Stop worrying.”

Before Tim could react Kon was climbing off the bed and heading out of the room. Tim stares as he walks away and then blinks from where he disappeared out of the door. He has to admit he hadn’t expected that reaction from Kon.

The anger was understandable even if it did come from out of nowhere. Once again, if their roles were reversed Tim can guarantee that he’d be acting like Kon is right now, in the sense of refusing to talk and declaring that he’s fine when he clearly wasn’t. He debates about what he should do for a moment, whether to leave Kon to calm down for a bit or to go after him right that moment.

Tim decides to go after him. Even though Kon wasn’t a Bat, he certainly had the stubbornness of one and Tim knew him well enough by now that he’ll be able to break through that stubbornness with a bit of gentle prodding.

He walks through their apartment looking for him, he eventually finds him on the other side of the balcony door through the kitchen. Kon was standing there outside with his body slumped over the balcony railing as he overlooked the city all around them.

Tim goes over there and gently opens the balcony door, he quietly steps out and stands next to Kon not saying anything. He’s close enough to be in contact if Kon wants that, but far enough away to have some space between them at the same time. He looks over the city as Kon was, enjoying it from its early morning perspective as he patiently waits.

It’s a good quarter of an hour before Kon says anything to him. “It was all of you this time.” Tim looks over at him to find his boyfriend staring straight ahead. “One by one, you all left and in the end I was alone. You, Roxy, Dubbliex, Tana, Cassie, Bart, all of you just gone.”

Kon shakes his head and lets out a bitter laugh, “It’s stupid.”

Tim frowns, “It’s not stupid though Kon, especially if it’s hurting you this much.” He doesn’t get a reaction to that statement so he carefully asks, “Why did we all leave?”

“Because of reasons.” Kon’s voice was tight and strained and Tim was worried about him. It’s not often Kon gets like this and when he does it’s normally pretty bad. “That’s not the only thing that happened though…”

Tim waits silently and patiently for Kon to continue, he didn’t want to ask and accidently make Kon retreat from where he was sharing about his nightmare.

“It was Tana’s death all over again. I see it clear as day, just as if it happened yesterday man. The look on her face as the device went off, the way her body slumped forward limp as a rag, the way I couldn’t do anything about it!”

Tim reached over at that point and placed his hand over the top of Kon’s. He was gripping the railing of the balcony so tight that it was beginning to dent the metal. His voice had risen into a high distressed tone as he finished that sentence and all Tim could do was sympathise with him. He knew the story of Tana Moon’s death, it reminded him of his own father’s death story.

Kon’s face screws up tightly, in the exact way that means he’s trying to not cry. “The first woman I purely loved, killed right in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it.” He lost his fight in not crying because the next moment he’s turning to face Tim and Tim could see the tears running down his cheeks.

“I should have done something you know? I – I – I don’t know… just something.”

Without thinking about it Tim pulls him into another hug. He wraps his arms around Kon’s broad frame and pulls him close, Kon instantly wraps his arms around him and buries his face into Tim’s neck as sobs escape from his body.

As Kon cries Tim gently rocks him and rubs his back, trying to soothe him. “I know. I know. Shhhh… I know babe, I know.”

And he did know. He really did know what it was like to lose someone that you loved and how there was absolutely nothing he could have done about it despite what it might feel like.

He carries on holding Kon close for a long time, just simply allowing his boyfriend to cry it all out. Once it seemed like he calmed down a bit, Tim gently suggests about going back inside into the warmth. Kon mutely nods, allowing Tim to pull him by the hand into the apartment and towards their bedroom.

As they enter Tim guides Kon to the bed and lightly pushes him down onto the mattress. Kon moves himself around until he’s lying down with his face buried into his pillow. Tim watches him for a moment, as his boyfriend clings onto the pillow.

Tim walks over to the opposite side of the bed and climbs on. He lies down next to Kon, removes the pillow he was hugging so he could wrap his arms around him. Kon immediately snakes his arms around Tim, holding him tightly as he buries his face into Tim’s shoulder. Tim presses a kiss to the top of Kon’s hair before resting his cheek there.

Tim knows he should probably say something at this point, something calming, loving and reassuring but in reality he knows that the words won’t mean anything, at least not really. He knows Kon well enough by now to know that physical contact will mean so much more to him than words. Kon’s always been a more tactile person anyway, hugs mean a lot to him.

He loses track of time as they lie there together, simply hugging each other. One hugging for comfort and the other providing the comfort. His hand had made it’s way to Kon’s head at some point and his fingers were rhythmically running through his hair.

Eventually Kon seems to relax enough to fall asleep. Tim doesn’t mind. He lies there still hugging Kon close and running his fingers through the meta’s hair in a comforting fashion despite him being unconscious. He shifts and pulls Kon even closer and closes his eyes, allowing himself to slowly drift off to sleep with his boyfriend sound asleep in his arms and with the knowledge of that if Kon has another nightmare he’s right there to comfort him in anyway he can.


End file.
